


Scrivener's Error

by InksandPens



Category: Danny Phantom, Fairly OddParents
Genre: Ghost King Danny, I have no idea how Fairy World works, No idea where I'm going with this, Not Proofread, OCs are just there for exposition, but no non-canon deaths occur, death of children is discussed, ghosts aren't the only otherworldly beings confused by halfas, premise without plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 17:15:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15248064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InksandPens/pseuds/InksandPens
Summary: Some children spend their lives on the list of potential godchildren, only to end up not needing a godparent. Usually, that's the end of it. Their name gets filed away with the other unchosen candidates once they turn thirteen. But one day, a supposed typo stirs up rumors in the Watchers' office.





	Scrivener's Error

**Author's Note:**

> July 10, 2018: Inks had an idea.
> 
> I've barely watched either of these shows, why am I trying to write a crossover? Seriously, in my life I've seen maybe five episodes of DP and three of FOP, and only one of those ones was within the last four years. Moreover, why am I publishing this story that's still barely a concept, instead of finishing the character-centric DP twoshot that I actually have an outline for?

Every human child was monitored from birth. Their mental growth, their emotional balance, their physical wellbeing; all were carefully tracked. Caretakers were constantly evaluated and re-evaluated with every change in the child’s life, even if the change seemed positive, for few new as well as they that what seemed wonderful initially could brew deep trouble in the long run.

Not that the children knew this. Or their caretakers. Or even the government.

Even though Fairy World constantly had eyes on every human child on earth, closer attention was paid to potential godchildren. One could never tell what the final straw would be, what could tip a child over the edge and officially earn them the label of ‘most miserable kid in the world.’ No fairy wanted a child to spend more time than necessary on the other side of that line, but crossing it was necessary to qualify them for godparents. Too many false starts could cause big problems for the fairies' existence.

That was a big part of the reason why the Watchers worked in a different wing then the actual godparents now. Too many godparents had gotten attached to children who had yet to tip that scale and had acted impulsively. Now godparents worked on assignment only. Processing went much more smoothly for everyone involved.

Godchild registry was a more selective process then it had been, but the results seemed a lot better. This did mean, though, that many children spent years on the waiting list before their designated Watcher decided they required the assistance only a fairy godparent could provide.

Daniel J. Fenton was one such child. The Watchers who gossiped at the water cooler couldn’t deny that he was a strong candidate. With regular bullying problems at school combined with a home life with neglectful parents and a level of environmental danger not present in most homes, any godparent who found themselves in the Watchers’ wing would be itching to fly down and ease his pain.

Unfortunately, Daniel J. Fenton’s case was a little trickier then most other candidates, mainly due to the occupation of said neglectful parents. Jack and Maddie Fenton were self-professed ghost hunters who poured every ounce of passion into their lab and field work. There was no denying their brilliant minds, as they managed to hit almost all the major points despite a lack of visible proof. Unfortunately, this same lack of proof made them desperate, and common sense often took a nosedive in favor of finding answers and proving theories when it came to witnessing the unusual.

Fairy godparents could certainly be considered unusual. No one was certain what would happen to a fairy that got caught in the Fenton household, and most of the supervisors weren’t willing to take the risk. A lot of water cooler conversations were spend worrying for the godparent that would be assigned to the kid if he did end up being the most miserable kid on earth one day.

Fortunately, Daniel J. Fenton was never _quite_ miserable _enough_ to quality. Chalk it up to a nurturing, if nosy, sister, or to two loyal friends that he got along with like s’more ingredients, or to a starry-eyed dream worth braving the hardships of the world for, but the second child of the Fenton family passed his thirteenth birthday without having been assigned a fairy godparent.

The entire Watchers’ wing breathed a sigh of relief as the boy was removed from the registry and filed in the archives under the other “F” surnames. No eyes need watch those children anymore, but management insisted on saving the records of every child who had ever been considered a candidate. These files would only be needed if something concerning the welfare of Fairy World happened on Earth; former candidates had a habit of being at the root of those problems. As long as nothing happened, though, no one need look at those names again unless a tour guide with a tendency toward tangents decided their flock of undergrads needed extra story time.

* * *

 

Which is likely why no one noticed anything weird until some time later, when an intern tasked with reorganizing the file cabinet pulled out the first page of “F” surnames and noticed a blank space on the list.

Celeste brought it to her supervisor’s attention, of course. He assumed it was a typo and told her to let it go. She did, filing it away again with little more than a curious glance.

It was a slow day. Slow enough that gossip ran dry at the water cooler. Celeste cast about for an interesting topic before she and her fellow newbies were dragged back to the mundanities of paperwork.

“So, the boss had me refiling old names today.”

“Yeah?” Marta didn’t sound interested. “You find a famous criminal or something?”

“No, no, it was.” This was lame. “I just found a blank space.”

“Huh?”

“Just an empty line where the next name should’ve been. They kept going on like normal afterwards, but that one spot was…never mind, it’s dumb.”

“Augh,” Damien groaned. “If that’s the most interesting thing that ever happens here I might switch wings.”

“So you’ve been saying for the past three years,” smirked Eli, before nudging a practically comatose Marta. “What would you bet it was in the ‘F’ names?”

“Oh please, not this again,” sighed Damien. “I don’t need to hear about the mystery kid anymore.”

“I-it was an ‘F’ name, actually,” Celeste spoke up. She felt her face flush when everyone suddenly focused on her.

“Wait, you’re serious?” Eli breathed, fighting a grin. “Was it with the ‘D’ first names?”

Celeste gulped. “Yeah. Uh, what’s the mystery kid?” She ignored Marta’s reflexive “ _who’s_ the mystery kid” as Eli straightened up.

“Well, we only even know this because one of my boss’s supervisors has a really good memory-“

“Drop the conspiracy and just tell us.” complained Damien.

“No. Anyway, apparently that space used to hold the name of some kid named Danny.”

“Daniel,” Marta corrected.

“The records said he preferred Danny. Just your normal candidate who ended up not qualifying, right? Until his name started blinking out of the records.”

“Blinking?” Celeste caught herself mimicking the metaphor.

“Yeah. If you check that paper in another hour or so I bet his name will be back. The first time it happened, everyone thought the system was on the fritz. No matter what archives they dug up, they couldn’t find what name was supposed to fill the space. Only one guy remembered.”

“Can you stop talking like you were there when it happened?”

“Everyone got even more frazzled when Danny Boy’s name suddenly reappeared. One of the newer recruits asked if it was a sign the kid had died, but a death had never done anything like this to the records before. Besides, the kid never actually qualified, and he was too old for it to really be a formal concern if he was dead. Still, supposedly some gal did a little investigating on the side, or tried to, at least." He leaned forward. "Apparently, the profile system glitches whenever his is pulled up. If it even _can_ be pulled up, because sometimes it disappears like everything else, and no one can figure out why, even though it seems like a separate thing seeing as it also affects the physical records someh-“

“Eli.”

“Ah, right. The profile glitches. System can’t seem to decide whether Danny Fenton is alive or deceased. Some of the corporate crowd call him ‘the ghost kid.’ You get it? It’s because-“

“We get it, Eli.”

“That’s…that sounds…” Celeste shifted. “Did anyone investigate? Find out what really happened to him? Why his name keeps disappearing?” Her eyes burned. “If he really did die young?”

There was a moment of quiet. Celeste finished her water in an effort to force down the lump in her throat.

“No, no one ever found out,” Eli finished quietly. “But hey, none of this necessarily means anything’s wrong with the kid. Could just be that something’s wrong with the system. Maybe even a few things. Like I said, the name-vanishing thing seems kinda different from the questionably-dead thing-“

Damien huffed. "Do you really have to call him that, though? Even if he was an actual ghost, he'd have no reason to bother fairies."  
  
Eli nodded, conceding. "True. He never had godparents, and from what I've heard he never interacted with anyone who did, so no chance of a faulty memory wipe either. And it's not like ghosts regularly interact with us anyway."

Marta crushed her paper cup, tossing it into the trash bin as she turned. "Just appreciate the simile, Damien."

"Whatever. Why do you act like it's some big rumor, anyway? I asked my boss after you told me the first time and she'd never heard."

Celeste left before their squabbling could draw any stares. Maybe she _should_ check the paper again...and find out what _normally_ happened to the record systems when a candidate died. 

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Danny can't escape the ghost association even when people don't know he's half-ghost.
> 
> Extra credit to anyone who can figure out the name-vanishing thing.


End file.
